Navigating the seamless environment in the global supply chain: implications for Canadian regions and workers

Penny Gurstein, null

doi:10.13169/workorgalaboglob.1.2.0076

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Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Volume 1, Issue 2

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Navigating the seamless environment in the global supply chain: implications for Canadian regions and workers

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Author(s): Penny Gurstein

Publication date (Print): Summer 2007

Journal: Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

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Abstract

When work is ‘boundless’ and ‘seamless’ where and how do workers' lives intersect with the space-time continuum of place-based communities? Who and what are they accountable to? Telemediation is fragmenting work across increasingly complex, transnational networks. Workers in these networks must negotiate through a multitude of temporal, contractual and trans-cultural milieus. This paper traces the trajectory of the work experience using case studies of telemediated work relationships in various points in the global supply chain and analyses the implications of telemediated spaces for the quality of workers' lives. Drawing on an analysis of case studies conducted by the EMERGENCE Canada project, this paper argues that telemediated work represents a shift in the scale at which many aspects of daily life unfold, and that some of the assumptions upon which workers’ lives are governed must be reconsidered.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.13169

Journal ID (publisher-id): workorgalaboglob

Title: Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 1745641X

ISSN (Electronic): 17456428

Publication date (Print): Summer 2007

Volume: 1

Issue: 2

Pages: 76-97

Article

Publisher ID: workorgalaboglob.1.2.0076

DOI: 10.13169/workorgalaboglob.1.2.0076

SO-VID: c07131e5-47c8-4b3a-afbe-d91eb90aac92

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

History

ScienceOpen disciplines: Sociology,Labor law,Political science,Labor & Demographic economics,Political economics

References

Aberdeen Group (2003) ‘Global Sourcing: What you need to know to make it Work’ Retrieved. September 30 2005 from http://searchcio.techtarget.com/generic/0,295582,sid19_gci1049457,00.html?bucket=REF
Arora, A. & A. Gambardella (2005) ‘Globalization of the Software Industry: Perspectives and Opportunities for Developed and Developing Countries.’ Retrieved October 15 2005 from http://www.nber.org/∼confer/2004/IPES04/arora.pdf
Beard, K.M. & J.R. Edwards (1995) ‘Employees as Risk: Contingent Work and the Experience of Contingent Workers’, in: Cary L. Cooper & D.M. Rousseau (Eds) Trends in Organizational Behavior 2, Chichester: Wiley: 120–140
Buchanan, R. & S. Koch-Schulte (2000) ‘Gender on the Line: Technology, Restructuring and the Reorganization of Work in the Call Centre Industry’ Policy Research Series . Ottawa: Status of Women Canada, September
Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (2000) A Study of Outsourcing Trends in Canada , Ottawa Ontario: CFIB
CATA (2005) Soft Skills the key to Hard Success: A Survey of Canada's CEOs , Ottawa: CATA
CID (2002) The Global Information Technology Report 2001–2002: Readiness for the Networked World , Cambridge MA: Centre for International Development, Harvard University. Retrieved October 15, 2005 from www.cid.harvard.edu/cr/gitrr_030202.html
Dimancescu, D. (1995) The Seamless Enterprise: Making Cross-Functional Management Work , New York: Wiley
Flecker, J. & S. Kirschenhofer (2002) Jobs on the Move: European Case Studies in Relocating eWork , Report 386, Brighton: Institute for Employment Studies
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Huws, U. (2000), ‘E-work location in a global digital economy: an introduction to the EMERGENCE Project’, Where in the World? eWork Location in a Digital Global Economy , First EMERGENCE Conference, Budapest, 24 October
Huws, U. & S. O'Regan (2001) eWork in Europe: the EMERGENCE 18-Country Survey , IES Report 380, Brighton: Institute for Employment Studies
Huws, U. (2003) The Making of a Cybertariat: Virtual Work in a Real World . New York: Monthly Review Press
Huws, U. (2006) ‘Fixed, Footloose, or Fractured. Work, Identity and the Spatial Division of Labour in the Twenty-First century City.’ Monthly Review , March 2006: 34–44
Huws, U., S. Dahlmann & J. Flecker (2004) Outsourcing of ICT and related services in the EU , Dublin, Ireland: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. Retrieved June 10 2005 from http://www.emcc.eurofound.eu.int/publications/2004/ef04137en.pdf
Kotabe, M. (1992) Global Sourcing Strategy: R&D, Manufacturing, and Marketing Interfaces . New York: Quorum Books
Mayo, S., C. Kido, J. Westcott & R. Yesner (2004) Global Sourcing Trends Necessitate Considerations of Near-shore Sourcing in Canada , IDC Whitepaper, March. Retrieved October 15, 2005 from http://ostg.bitpipe.com/detail/RES/1088792033_414.html
Mirchandani, K. (2003) ‘Challenging racial silences in studies of emotion work: contributions from anti-racist feminist theory’, Organization Studies 24(5):721–742
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Porter, M. (1986) ‘Changing Patterns of International Competition’, California Management Review 28(2):9–40
PricewaterhouseCoopers (2004) A Fine Balance: The Impact of Offshore IT Services on Canada's IT Landscape . Retrieved September 2005 from http://www.pwcglobal.com/Extweb/ncsurvres.nsf/0cc1191c627d157d8525650600609c03/0c9b30f42406aec285256e6d0055adad/$FILE/fb_0404.pdf
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Zapf, D., C. Vogt, C. Seifert, H. Mertini, & A. Isic (1999) ‘Emotion Work as a Source of Stress: the Concept and Development of an Instrument.’ European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology 8: 371–400

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Aberdeen Group (2003) ‘Global Sourcing: What you need to know to make it Work’ Retrieved. September 30 2005 from http://searchcio.techtarget.com/generic/0,295582,sid19_gci1049457,00.html?bucket=REF

[2] Arora, A. & A. Gambardella (2005) ‘Globalization of the Software Industry: Perspectives and Opportunities for Developed and Developing Countries.’ Retrieved October 15 2005 from http://www.nber.org/∼confer/2004/IPES04/arora.pdf

[3] Beard, K.M. & J.R. Edwards (1995) ‘Employees as Risk: Contingent Work and the Experience of Contingent Workers’, in: Cary L. Cooper & D.M. Rousseau (Eds) Trends in Organizational Behavior 2, Chichester: Wiley: 120–140

[4] Buchanan, R. & S. Koch-Schulte (2000) ‘Gender on the Line: Technology, Restructuring and the Reorganization of Work in the Call Centre Industry’ Policy Research Series . Ottawa: Status of Women Canada, September

[5] Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (2000) A Study of Outsourcing Trends in Canada , Ottawa Ontario: CFIB

[6] CATA (2005) Soft Skills the key to Hard Success: A Survey of Canada's CEOs , Ottawa: CATA

[7] CID (2002) The Global Information Technology Report 2001–2002: Readiness for the Networked World , Cambridge MA: Centre for International Development, Harvard University. Retrieved October 15, 2005 from www.cid.harvard.edu/cr/gitrr_030202.html

[8] Dimancescu, D. (1995) The Seamless Enterprise: Making Cross-Functional Management Work , New York: Wiley

[9] Flecker, J. & S. Kirschenhofer (2002) Jobs on the Move: European Case Studies in Relocating eWork , Report 386, Brighton: Institute for Employment Studies

[10] Friedman, T. (2005) The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century , New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

[11] Fudge, J., E. Tucker & L. Vosko (2002) The Legal Concept of Employment: Marginalizing Workers , Ottawa: Law Commission of Canada, October.

[12] Gereffi, G., J. Humphrey & T. Sturgeon (2005) ‘The Governance of Global Value Chains’, Review of International Political Economy , 12(1) February: 78–104

[13] Gurstein, P., C. Mochrie & K. Wennekes with U. Huws (2005) A Preliminary Report on Canada's Competitive Challenges towards Advancing a Successful Global Sourcing Strategy , Ottawa: CATA

[14] Harvey, D. (1989) The Condition of Postmodernity , Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

[15] Huws, U. (2000), ‘E-work location in a global digital economy: an introduction to the EMERGENCE Project’, Where in the World? eWork Location in a Digital Global Economy , First EMERGENCE Conference, Budapest, 24 October

[16] Huws, U. & S. O'Regan (2001) eWork in Europe: the EMERGENCE 18-Country Survey , IES Report 380, Brighton: Institute for Employment Studies

[17] Huws, U. (2003) The Making of a Cybertariat: Virtual Work in a Real World . New York: Monthly Review Press

[18] Huws, U. (2006) ‘Fixed, Footloose, or Fractured. Work, Identity and the Spatial Division of Labour in the Twenty-First century City.’ Monthly Review , March 2006: 34–44

[19] Huws, U., S. Dahlmann & J. Flecker (2004) Outsourcing of ICT and related services in the EU , Dublin, Ireland: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. Retrieved June 10 2005 from http://www.emcc.eurofound.eu.int/publications/2004/ef04137en.pdf

[20] Kotabe, M. (1992) Global Sourcing Strategy: R&D, Manufacturing, and Marketing Interfaces . New York: Quorum Books

[21] Mayo, S., C. Kido, J. Westcott & R. Yesner (2004) Global Sourcing Trends Necessitate Considerations of Near-shore Sourcing in Canada , IDC Whitepaper, March. Retrieved October 15, 2005 from http://ostg.bitpipe.com/detail/RES/1088792033_414.html

[22] Mirchandani, K. (2003) ‘Challenging racial silences in studies of emotion work: contributions from anti-racist feminist theory’, Organization Studies 24(5):721–742

[23] National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade (1993) Toward Seamless Borders: Making Free Trade Work in the Americas . Retrieved November 20, 2006 from http://www.natlaw.com/pubs/purchase/bord.htm

[24] Porter, M. (1986) ‘Changing Patterns of International Competition’, California Management Review 28(2):9–40

[25] PricewaterhouseCoopers (2004) A Fine Balance: The Impact of Offshore IT Services on Canada's IT Landscape . Retrieved September 2005 from http://www.pwcglobal.com/Extweb/ncsurvres.nsf/0cc1191c627d157d8525650600609c03/0c9b30f42406aec285256e6d0055adad/$FILE/fb_0404.pdf

[26] Shearmur, R. (2004) ‘The Growth of Information Technology Enabled Services in Canada, 1996–2001’ EMERGENCE Canada Working Paper. Retrieved March 2007 from http://www.chs.ubc.ca/emergence/publications.html

[27] Standen, P. & J. Sinclair-Jones (2003) eWork in Regional Australia , Canberra: Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, Australian Government. Retrieved January 2005 from http://www.rirdc.gov.au/reports/HCC/04–045.pdf

[28] Statistics Canada (2001) Census of Canada 2001 , Ottawa: Statistics Canada

[29] Statistics Canada (2004a) ‘Annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Income-based’, Provincial Economic Accounts , Ottawa: Government of Canada. Retrieved January 2005 from http://estat.statcan.ca/cgi-win/CNSMCGLEXE

[30] Statistics Canada (2004b) Employment Statistics Ottawa: Government of Canada. Retrieved January 2005 from http://estat.statcan.ca/cgi-win/CNSMCGLEXE

[31] Zapf, D., C. Vogt, C. Seifert, H. Mertini, & A. Isic (1999) ‘Emotion Work as a Source of Stress: the Concept and Development of an Instrument.’ European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology 8: 371–400